Tag: Online Payments

Earlier this year users of PayPal accounts that have been linked to Google Pay have reported unauthorised transactions on their PayPal accounts.

According to a number of victims, the illegal transactions have taken place at shops in the US with purchases particularly prolific at Target stores in New York.

Most of the victims appear to be from Germany and the costs of the transactions run as high as €1,000 in some cases.

PayPal has created a virtual payment card with a number, expiration date, and CVC number. When a Google Pay user makes a payment using PayPal funds, the transaction is done via the virtual card.

Researchers believe hackers could have found a way to discover the details of the virtual cards, though this is by no means certain.

PayPal said it has now resolved the issue without giving further details.

PayPal flaw

Two security researchers said last year they discovered a flaw in PayPal that allowed hackers to read the card details of a virtual credit card from a mobile phone if the mobile device is enabled.

This could likely happen via a near field communications (NFC) reader app. NFC is used when you tap your card on a payment device. For security purposes, the signal range is meant to be no more than about 20 centimetres. However, if a mobile device is being used to make a payment it has been proven that attackers can read the signal from up to 10 meters away with special equipment.

Given that only users from Germany, some of whom have never even visited the US, are affected suggest that their virtual card details are being picked up at contactless payment facilities in Germany and then brute-forced to reveal the full payment numbers.

For instance, in Germany the first eight digits of the virtual card are always the same, leaving 7 digits left to guess. The researchers who first discovered the flaw said attackers would only need 170 guesses to establish a valid credit card number and card expiry date.

With automated software, this could be discovered in seconds and online accounts could be filled up with funds from hacked PayPal accounts within minutes.

What to do?

Google has reportedly said that fraudulent payments need to be cancelled through PayPal.

PayPal advises reporting fraudulent transactions immediately so they can be cancelled.

PayPal users can also avoid using contactless features and remove Google Pay from their PayPal accounts.

Be vigilant everyone.

The MPMIT Team, offering local IT support in byte sized chunks to Micro businesses and Sole Traders in the Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket and the surrounding areas.

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